托福閱讀真題Official 47 Passage 1（四）

托福閱讀真題Official 47 Passage 1（四）

Roman Cultural Influence on Britain

After the Roman Empire’s conquest of Britain in the first century A.D.,the presence of administrators,merchants,and troops on British soil,along with the natural flow of ideas and goods from the rest of the empire,had an enormous influence on life in the British Isles.Cultural influences were of three types:the bringing of objects,the transfer of craft workers,and the introduction of massive civil architecture.Many objects were not art in even the broadest sense and comprised utilitarian items of clothing,utensils,and equipment.We should not underestimate the social status associated with such mundane possessions which had not previously been available.The flooding of Britain with red-gloss pottery from Gaul(modern-day France),decorated with scenes from Classical mythology,probably brought many into contact with the styles and artistic concepts of the Greco-Roman world for the first time,whether or not the symbolism was understood.Mass-produced goods were accompanied by fewer more aesthetically impressive objects such as statuettes.Such pieces perhaps first came with officials for their own religious worship;others were then acquired by native leaders as diplomatic gifts or by purchase.Once seen by the natives,such objects created a fashion which rapidly spread through the province.

In the most extreme instances,natives literally bought the whole package of Roman culture.The Fishbourne villa,built in the third quarter of the first century A.D.,probably for the native client king Cogidubnus,amply illustrates his Roman pretensions.It was constructed in the latest Italian style with imported marbles and stylish mosaics.It was lavishly furnished with imported sculptures and other Classical objects.A visitor from Rome would have recognized its owner as a participant in the contemporary culture of the empire,not at all provincial in taste.Even if those from the traditional families looked down on him,they would have been unable to dismiss him as uncultured.Although exceptional,this demonstrates how new cultural symbols bound provincials to the identity of the Roman world.

Such examples established a standard to be copied.One result was an influx of craft workers,particularly those skilled in artistic media like stone-carving which had not existed before the conquest.Civilian workers came mostly from Gaul and Germany.The magnificent temple built beside the sacred spring at Bath was constructed only about twenty years after the conquest.Its detail shows that it was carved by artists from northeast Gaul.In the absence of a tradition of Classical stone-carving and building,the desire to develop Roman amenities would have been difficult to fulfill.Administrators thus used their personal contacts to put the Britons in touch with architects and masons.As many of the officials in Britain had strong links with Gaul,it is not surprising that early Roman Britain owes much to craft workers from that area.Local workshops did develop and stylistically similar groups of sculpture show how skills in this new medium became widespread.Likewise skills in the use of mosaic,wall painting,ceramic decoration,and metal-working developed throughout the province with the eventual emergence of characteristically Romano-British styles.

This art had a major impact on the native peoples,and one of the most important factors was a change in the scale of buildings.Pre-Roman Britain was highly localized,with people rarely traveling beyond their own region.On occasion large groups amassed for war or religious festivals,but society remained centered on small communities.Architecture of this era reflected this with even the largest of the fortified towns and hill forts containing no more than clusters of medium-sized structures.The spaces inside even the largest roundhouses were modest,and the use of rounded shapes and organic building materials gave buildings a human scale.But the effect of Roman civil architecture was significant.The sheer size of space enclosed within buildings like the basilica of London must have been astonishing.This was an architecture of dominance in which subject peoples were literally made to feel small by buildings that epitomized imperial power.Supremacy was accentuated by the unyielding straight lines of both individual buildings and planned settlements since these too provided a marked contrast with the natural curvilinear shapes dominant in the native realm.

Question 7 of 14

According to paragraph 3,one factor contributing to the success of the earliest Roman-style construction projects in Britain was

A.the fact that long before the conquest many civilian workers from Gaul and Germany had settled in Britain

B.the rapid development of characteristically Romano-British styles

C.the availability,in northeast Gaul,of structures that could serve as standards to be copied

D.the use,by administrators,of personal connections to bring craft workers from Gaul into contact with Britons

正確答案：D

題目詳解

題型分類：事實(shí)信息題

原文定位：根據(jù)Roman-style construction projects in Britain定位到段落最后一句。Likewise skills in the use...Romano-British styles，題干在問羅馬式建筑項(xiàng)目成功原因，因此需要往前找答案，倒數(shù)第四五句Administrators thus used...with architects and masons.As many of the officials...from that area。

選項(xiàng)分析：

原文說管理者們利用個(gè)人關(guān)系使英國人和建筑師、石匠保持聯(lián)系，并且早期羅馬統(tǒng)治下的英國人很感謝高盧地區(qū)的工匠，說明早羅馬風(fēng)格的建筑之所以成功是因?yàn)楣芾碚呃脗€(gè)人關(guān)系讓許多Gaul的建筑師和石匠來到英國，因此D選項(xiàng)為正確答案。

A選項(xiàng)，早在征服之前，許多來自高盧和德國的平民工人就已經(jīng)在英國定居了，無中生有。

B選項(xiàng)，Romano-British styles定位到最后一句，但這是羅馬風(fēng)格建筑所產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果，而非原因，與原文矛盾。

C選項(xiàng)，原文說的是高盧民間匠人大量涌入，而不是高盧東北部有structures that could serve as standards to be copied，張冠李戴。

Question 8 of 14

In paragraph 4,why does the author mention that“Pre-Roman Britain was highly localized,with people rarely traveling beyond their own region”?

A.To suggest that the Roman conquest of Britain increased the standard of living for natives

B.To indicate that pre-Roman Britain was more interested in festivals and community life than conquering other regions

C.To explain why architecture during this period was not built to be particularly large

D.To illustrate how the traditional roundhouse evolved under the influence of Roman civil architecture

正確答案：C

題目詳解

題型分類：修辭目的題

題干分析：考察對(duì)段落主旨的理解

選項(xiàng)分析：

原文On occasion large groups amassed for war or religious festivals,but society remained centered on small communities，說明當(dāng)時(shí)建筑比較小的原因是人們活動(dòng)范圍比較小。即選擇C。

A建議羅馬征服英國提高當(dāng)?shù)厝说纳钏剑瑹o中生有。

B原文并沒有提到festivals and community life，無中生有。

D本段在講change in the scale of buildings，而不是traditional roundhouse演變過程，與原文不符。

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